Many insurgencies in the latter half of the 20th century served as a tool for the 'weaker' communist bloc to try and change the global power balance. Open confrontation carried the risk of escalation and the communist powers were at a disadvantage in the field of technologies of conventional weapons. The insurgents relied on guerrilla tactics that precluded the use of heavy weapons and hence were able to dictate the terms of engagement. Guerrilla war is thus a low cost, low risk, option for a weaker party to change the political map despite adverse power balance.
What was new in the theories of Mao and Che was the degree of emphasis on politics. Mao brought down politics from the level of policy and made it relevant to the individual soldier by relating it to tactics and morale. This showed shrewd understanding of the circumstances under which a guerrilla operates. The emphasis on indoctrination and ideology was a direct result of Mao's understanding of insurgency as a protracted war, where the human element is of crucial importance. In classical concept, destruction of armed power leads to collapse of the enemy's morale which leads to eventual victory, but in the Maoist conception of revolutionary war it is the loss of morale that leads to the defeat of enemy's armed forces.
Insurgency in Asia can only be understood against the backdrop of the current stage of political development. There may be economically advanced states, but they may be under-developed politically,. In a politically developed country, government is effective. Elsewhere, there is violence and instability. Political institutions in a developed country mediate between competing groups and individuals and maintain peace. These institutions are characterised by adaptability, autonomy, subordination, complexity and coherence in disunity.
Large parts of Asia are predominantly agricultural civilisations in the process of industrialisation, which brings in its wake Western values. This change can often generate alienation and loss of norms due to the conflict between the indigenous and new value systems. Historically, this has been accompanied by violence. Racial, linguistic and religious differences also become factors in the resistance to modernisation which turns violence. The spread of education, information and literacy generate additional pressures due to heightened awareness leading to heightened expectations.